Method of cleansing harbors.



PATENTED QGT. 16,1906.

J. W. PARKER. METHOD OF CLEANSING HARBORS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY24. 1905.

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METHOD OF CLEANSING HARBORS".

'APPLIOATION FILED JULY 24.1905.

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PATENTED OCT; 16

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24. 1.905.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

JOHN W, PARKER, OF MEXICO, MEXICO.

METHOD OF CLEANSING HARBORS.

specification of Letters Patent.

latented. Oct. 16, 190.6.

Application-filed i y' t1905- 55 1 N 271,108.

' Harbors, of which the following is a specification The object of my invention is to provide a new and efiicientmethod of cleansing and keeping l n e a ndloc e arbor ope ing to the sea.

By the term *-l andloched harbor I designe a y bay or harbor whi i i her ntirely devoid of rivers or streams from the l n war side mptying in it or one in whi h I the current or currents setting in from the 3 sea so far preponderate in force or volume, .or both, over those setting toward the sea as I to produce stagnation and fouling of the water of the harbor. v

Harbors of the .class specified are usually such bays as have each a narrow entrance or strait into which drives at regular intervals the tide from the sea, of which a portion with equal regularity recedes, but .of which a great sluggish volume as foul and stagnant as bilgewater is pushed back and forth by the alternating flow of the tide without ever being purified or evacuated, The result is that such localities, especially in the tropics, become endemically subject to filth diseasessuch, for instance, as yellow fever, which is recogniz d as radi able W ol y o in ge meas ure through the employment of proper methods of sanitation,

Taking into due consideration the causes of the stagnation described in harbors of the class referred to, it is obvious that any cleans.- I ing agency employed therefor must in ,order to accomplish its complete efficiency be pro.- portion'ed in all respects to the work it has to do- My i v n ion perfectly fu fil h said requirement, being constant in its operation and since it derives its cleansing agency from the sea itself being limited only by the pro.- vision that is made for the utilization of said agency.

My method consists in providing above the variable level of the sea a constant and requisite head of sea-water and in discharging it into the harbor from the landward side, thereby effecting a flow which may be constant into the bay of clean water in such volume as may suflice with each ebb of the tide to ev cua he a bor of i oth rwise stagv tion, Fig.

nant contents and to keep therein a channel scoured.

In order to accomplish the end in view, I

provide opposite the open sea any suitable means which may be preferred adapted, through utilization of the force of impact or dash of the waves, to produce and preserve a constant head of water higher than the mean level of the sea and also means for compelling or permitting efflux of said head of water, as through a canal entering the bay from its upper or landward end through the harbor exu i ly By th m hod ninterrup d discharge into the bay of clean salt Wt terin great volume may be effected. accnmu: l i n of wa er n the bay i by u h m an obtained when the tide is coming greatly in xc ss f tha whi fl w i to i through the natural entrance. Not only does the in? flux of the clean salt water into the bay tend i itself t Pu i y h har o but it di charge with the outflow of the ebb-tide, fol.- lowed a i y un nt rrupte in lu i to the upper end of the bay, as above specified, effects the scouring of .a channel through the harbor-bottom between the. mouth of the canal aforesaid and the strait which defines the mouth of the harbor.

In the accompanying drawings, which con.- stitute a part of this specification, Figure I is a plan representing, by way of example and without attempt at geographical .exactitude, the harbor of Havana in the island of Cuba. Fig. II is atop plan view, partiallyin skeleton, of a floating apron, presented as a preferred construction of the wave-entrapplng apparatus of the preferred form o head-producing mechanism ada ted for the practice of my in- III is a longitudinal vertlGitl section as on the line III III of Fig, II.

Referring to the numerals on the drawings, 1 indicates the shore-line of a bay or harbor 2, whose entrance is the strait 3, opening into the sea .4.

5 indicates that part of the bay which in the foregoing specification I have designated the upper end of the harbor and between which and the strait-3 is confined, in a bay of the same general type as that illustrated, that accumulation of filth or sedimentary or sand deposit which it is the object of my invention to provide means of eliminating.

7 indicates a canal or waterway affording means of direct communication between the open sea 4 and the upper end 5 of the bay.

.8 in F g- 1 indicate the h a -produc ng IIO mechanism, illustrated in detail in the remaining figures of the drawin s and which is in practice located at the inta e end of the canal at any point Where it may be directly exposed to the action of the waves of the sea at all tides.

The head-producing'mechanism may be of any known or preferred type, that illustrated being deemed to be simple, strong, and durable, and therefore preferred. The function higher level of water Within the canal 7 than the varying mean level of the sea without. The two levels change with the rise and fall 'of the-tide; but at all tides there isa differential of levels or head, which produces continuously a flow through the canal 7 and discharge therefrom into the end 5 of the bay 2. 'The force and volume of the current flowing through the canal 7 are determined by the head, Whose height is in large measure dependent upon the force and frequency of the waves which break against and operate the. mechanism of the head-producing apparatus. Since, however, it is the differential of levels i that is relied upon to do the work intended and since there is always some motion of the sea toward the shore even in its calmest state, my apparatus may be at all times depended upon for performance of the function required of it, proper provision being made to meet the exigency of storms or the like. The necessity for such provision is taken into account in the construction of the headproducing mechanism herein specified, the details of which are shown in Figs. II and III of the drawings,- as aforesaid. Referring to those figures, 10 and 11 indicate massive abutments, preferably of concrete or reinforced concrete construction, which flank the intake end of the canal 7 and define between them the intake. 12 in Fig. III indicates the side wall of the canal 7, which may be artificially supported or not, as the conditions of the earth through which it is cut necessitate. 13 indicates the floor of the canal. 14 indicates the floor of the apron-case or excavation provided for the Wave-entrapping mech-- anism, specifically herein denominated the apron.

On the seaward side is employed a ledge 15 of natural formation when such formation is available, but which may be made of or reinforced by artificial means if need be,

as of concrete or reinforced concrete construction, extending between and beyond the abutments 10 and 11, defining the front of the apron-case. Its surface may be located approximately at but not below the low-tide level. One of its important functions in respect to the wave-entrapping mechanism is to afford secure and stable anchorage for the fixed members of the hinge connection of the apron. The said fixed members are preferably the inwardlyprojecting ends 17 of cross-pieces 18, incorporated at suitable regular intervals in a unitary framing structure built of massive structural iron or steel channels, the stringers whereof are indicated by the reference-numerals 19, of which two, extending between the abutments 1'0 and 11, are illustrated in Figs. II and III of the drawings. The string ers, although, in effect, continuous between the abutments, may be in respect to detail of construction segregated into lengths corresponding to the distance between the respective cross-pieces 18, to which they may be riveted through the intervention of angleplates 20 of familiar use in" such construc tion. framing structure built as above specified or in any other suitable manner preferred is immovably fixed to the top of the ledge 15, as by anchorbolts 21, disposed at frequent and proper intervals throughout the framing structure and deeply embedded and secured in the body of the ledgeas shown, for example, in Fig. II of the drawings.

The apron is a suitable structure provided near its inner or free side with buoyant means of support and hinged at the opposite side to the framing structure above described or its equivalent. I prefer to build the apron of sections of channel iron or steel, substantially in the same manner as the framing structure specified is built, the apron-stringers being indicated by the reference-numerals 25, the apron cross-pieces by 26, and the apron angle-plates, through whose intervention the members and 26 may be united, by the numerals 27.

The apron cross-pieces 26, being disposed at proper intervals to correspond with the disposition of the cross-pieces 18, play against the cross-pieces 18, respectively, and are hinged thereto, as by bolts or suitable hinge connection 28. The bolt or bolts 28 passes or pass through horizontally-elongated apertures, one being indicated by the numeral 29 in Fig. III of the drawings, in order to afford a loose joint for the rise and fall of the apron, whose cross-piece ends 30 preferably abut against the face 31 of the ledge 15. The face 31 may be provided with a suitable bearing plate or plates 32 to receive the end thrust of the apron cross-pieces 26.

The entire surface of the framing structure and the apron when hinged thereto is covered (See'Fig. III of the drawii'igsi) The with a suitable skin 35, extending, in effect, over the entire surface of the said two structures. It should be durable, flexible, and sufficiently strong and water-tight to prevent any considerable efflux of water from the canal after having been entrapped therein. I prefer to make the skin of copper, Which will last well in salt water and is sufficiently pliable to accommodate for a long time without breaking the rise and fall of the apron upon its hinge connection to the framing structure. The copper skin, which, although in efiect continuous, may be of course made up of plate-sections riveted or otherwise properly assembled, is suitably secured, as by rivets, to the respective structures which it covers and preferably has its seaward edge 36 (see Fig. III) depressed and well embedded in the land to protect it from being undermined or ripped off by the action of the waves.

' The buoyant means of support provided for the apron is indicated by reference-numeral 37, designating an air-tank, or it may be a plurality of air-tanks secured to the under side of the apron near its free end and of required calculated dimensions to float the apron.

The means provided to protect the apron from injury during a storm, for instance, or whenever the violence of frequency or the waves might possibly upset it or strain its skin at or above its hinge connection may be a chain 38, fastened at one end, as indicated at 39, to the apron, and at the other, as indicated at 40, an anchor-bolt 41, properly embedded in the canal-wall. The length of such a chain may determine the limit of the rise of the apron. A number of chains distributed along the length of the apron would in practice be employed.

The operation of the apparatus for the practice of my method may be briefly described as follows: Suppose for the purposes of this explanation the apparatus substan tially as specified to be duly installed and in working order, the top of the apron to be on a level with the top of the framing structure and exposed to the action of the waves. The top of the ledge 15 being postulated as located at or above low-tide level, the water-level in the canal 7 may be assumed to correspond with the sea-level and the free end of the apron to be afloat, with the bottom of the tank 37 safely lifted above striking distance of the floor 14 of the apron-case. Thereupon and thereafter a portion of the volume ofeach Wave that dashes against the apron drives over it into the canal and is therein entrapped by the apron. The accumulation of the entrapped water of the succession of waves produces and preserves the head required for the performance of the specified function required of it and forthwith commences and continues to perform its cleansing office substantially in the manner hereinbefore set forth. With the rise and the fall of the tide the head is preserved as a relatively constant quantity by reason of the always-present differential of levels in the canal and in the sea or bay, respectively.

It may be observed that no dimensions are set forth in the foregoing specification. They are omitted, not only because they are in no wise essential to the explication of the principle of the invention, but also because they should be calculated in every instance of proposed use to meet the local conditions presented.

What I claim is 1. The method of cleansing landlocked harbors always open to the sea, which consists in providing communication between the upper end of the harbor and the sea and in producing and preserving therein a head of water derived from the sea.

2. The method of cleansing landlocked harbors always open to the sea, which consists in producing and preserving a differential of levels between the sea and the water of the upper end of the harbor.

3. The method of cleansing landlocked harbors which consists in producing and preserving a constant differential of levels between the sea and the water of the upper end of the harbor.

4. The method of cleansing landlocked harbors which consists in providing for the constant discharge into the harbor of a volume of water in excess of that which passes into it through the strait constituting its entrance.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN W. PARKER.

Witnesses:

GEo. A. BECK, GRAHAM M. KER. 

